The Ultimate Manual for Being Your Own Boss & Achieving Financial Freedom

(Which, having founded a company by the same name, she quite literally is.)

Who Should Read “The Barefoot Executive”? And Why?

Do you like your job?

Can you imagine yourself doing it for the next decade or half a century?

If so, then – congratulations!

You’re one of the fortunate few people on this planet who’ve managed to become their own executives!

Because we just can’t imagine someone who’s not his own boss – and who, consequently, has to adhere to schedules, deadlines, inflexible work hours, etc. – content enough to not yearn for a different future.

Carrie Wilkerson’s “The Barefoot Executive” is a book about these yearners, the less fortunate ones.

Those who want to do something other than what they’re currently doing.

“The Barefoot Executive PDF Summary”

Even though it shares the title, this book has nothing to do with the 1971 live-action Disney movie starring the young Kurt Russell and a very smart TV-loving chimp.

However, it may have everything to do with the brightness of your future and your wellbeing, since Carrie Wilkerson’s goal – as stated in the Introduction is

…to give you hope and to take you through the process of investigating your options and your skill sets to create the financial freedom and work life that you’ve perhaps only dreamed of until now.

Ignore the naysayers and avoid the status quo.

So, in other words, Carrie’s vision of your future is one in which you can go to work without socks – or even pants – and one in which you can have the flexibility to join your daughter on an all-day field trip whenever you like – without asking for permissions and without any consequences.

And she shares this vision in five main parts.

The first part is titled “TheMyth Breakers,” and it consists of two chapters: “Job Security, Tenure, Retirement, and Other Fairy Tales” and “Why You Must Own a Business.”

As evidenced by the tiles themselves, these chapters set the tone for Carrie Wilkerson’s main investigation, i.e., the why before the how of becoming your own executive.

Wilkerson’s point here is that you shouldn’t try to be the next anyone because that way you risk detaching your own business from your real desires and dreams, ultimately falling down the same rabbit hole you were trying to climb up from.

In other words: if you don’t work the job you want, create the one you’ve always dreamed about!

Not the one which books say will most probably work, or the one which self-help authors claim will get you the most money.

As Simon Sinek so convincingly argued a while back, there’s only one place from which you should start building your company: its why.

Part three, “The Methods,” is where Wilkerson moves from the why to the how, or, in other words, from motivation to action.

Here she explains what the right mindset of success is and how personalizing a business means taking massive action.

However, actually masterminding it will probably mean doing at least one of two things: finding a good mentor and doing serious research.

After all, even the greatest of sportsmen can’t maximize their talents without a proper mentor – so, don’t act self-important and do find one.

The fourth part of the book – titled “The Models” – covers (quite fittingly) six different business models from which you can choose to develop your business practically from scratch.

The models discussed here are service based (i.e., the one based on using your skill set), expertise-based (coaching and consulting), knowledge-based (information marketing), goods-based (commerce or direct sales), and referral-based (commission or affiliate marketing).

The sixth model is not actually a business model in itself but a combination of the other, since, once you have at least one model firmly planted, nothing’s stopping you from progressing to multiple streams of income.

The fifth and final part of the book, “The Marketplace” is all about positioning and finding your right audience.

It tries to answer questions such as “who wants what you have?” “where will they find you?” and “where will you find them?” while also sharing some ideas to income and discussing how you can effectively build your audience.

Scattered throughout Wilkerson’s book, you’ll find many practical advises and case studies – “Barefoot Action Steps” and “Barefoot Case Studies” – in addition to numerous links to supplemental videos which should further help you understand Wilkerson’s message.

Which, ultimately, is really simple but extraordinarily powerful: if you don’t like your life, you can easily fix it.

Just remodel yourself:

Key Lessons from “The Barefoot Executive”

1. Shatter the Myths of the Past Century – and Become Your Own Boss2. The Three Big Mistakes You Should Never Make3. The Five Business Models You Should Research

Shatter the Myths of the Past Century – and Become Your Own Boss

There are many unsubstantiated and/or obsolete myths which, unfortunately, have decided your life for you.

Some of the most frightening ones are the Myth of Job Security, the Myth of Tenure, and the Myth of Retirement.

These are all remnants of a past world which has nothing to do with the dynamic you-can-do-it-yourself age in which we’re currently living.

So, forget about them.

Start your own business and write some new myths for the new generations.

The Three Big Mistakes You Should Never Make

There are three big mistakes you should never make if (or, rather, when) planning to start your own business.

The first one should be an obvious one – but people do it much too often so that we can ignore it: chasing other people’s dreams. The point is to build your life around your very own.

The second one is chasing too many rabbits – because that way you probably won’t catch a single one.

Chasing dollars is the third one.

Money should always be just means to an end, not the end itself.

The Five Business Models You Should Research

Probably the most important part of “The Barefoot Executive” is the fourth one: “The Models.”

Here you’ll find five different business models you should research and the ways you can employ them and link them to your very own business.

These are service-based, expertise-based, knowledge-based, goods-based, and referral-based.

Finally, the sixth model is a combination of these, i.e., multiple streams of revenue.

Like this summary? We’d like to invite you to download our free 12 min app, for more amazing summaries and audiobooks.

Our Critical Review

If you want to find a one-for-all working formula on how to start a business and become a filthy rich person, “The Barefoot Executive” is not the book for you.

However, it can do you one better: it offers a comprehensive overview of the possibilities ahead of you while sharing with you all the motivation and inspiration you’ll ever need to finally get the courage to start of your own business.

Funny and stimulating, “The Barefoot Executive” is certainly one of the places where you should start pursuing your dream career.